Cheap Guitar pt 3 - new GFS Dream 180 pickup

My new $55 guitar is now worth twice as much thanks to the GFS Dream 180 pickup. You can't hear it well on the vid, but to my ears the scratchy, sterile sound of the stock humbucker is gone. Having said that, the Dream 180 is weaker than the stock single coils so I have had to raise it up very close to the strings, whilst the single coils are buried in the pickguard.

Will there be an epilogue? Well, while I was putting the guitar back together I tightened down all six screws at the front of the bridge. I don't use the vibrato bar, so why not? But could it be that nailing the bridge down on the wood removes some of the jangle? Or am I just experiencing the usual hangover from getting a new bit of guitar gear? Stay tuned...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• cheap
• guitar
• GFS
• pickup
• dream
• 180
• diy
• strat
• rewiring
• setup

[TheBluesBeggar]

Respectfully, it's not really a "cheap" guitar when you spend hours luthering it and replacing out the equiptment..

[GitarCarl]

@TheBluesBeggar Yup, you can easily tell I have more patience for tinkering than playing!

[ivncdo0809]

hi gitarcarl ! i have a pacifica112v guitar which is very nice and really good material quality and with an upgrade it will be awesome! it has and hss configuration so i was planning to put some gfs p'ups to make her sound awesome, was thinking to put 60-70 grey bottom non staggered strat single coils (they say "more tone") for neck and middle and a dream 180 for the humbucker what do you think?, also do u have any suggestions? i've decided to put some gfs coz i want to stay in that price range

[GitarCarl]

@ivncdo0809 Sorry I don't know about the GFS strat pickup lineup, but last time I checked on ebay you could send them an email and they had a reputation for giving good suggestions or comments on whatever combination you wanted to know about.

[JPML014]

Would the Dream 180s have a good twangy sound in a Tele bridge when activating the coil-tap?

[GitarCarl]

@JPML014 Good question, sorry I don't know the answer. Much of any guitar's sound comes from the body wood(s). How massive the bridge is and what type of metal are also factors. Big pickguards and big routs (think Strat) have big effects too. Generally the pickup effects are less significant than that, unless you are far away from original Gibson and Fender designs. For an extra $60 you could buy two tele bridges and compare the Fender-style sound to a tapped humbucker.

[fuzzybuttcb750]

arent the GFS pickups just amazing? i;ve built several customs and i use nothing but their pickups, hardware and electronics unless the new owner specifies something else. they could easily charge 3 times what they do now and they'd still be the best for the money. i'm getting ready to do a Squier 51 with dream 180s in both the bridge and with mods to the pickguard and some routing on the body, the neck as well and micro toggles to do the coil splitting.

[TheBluesBeggar]

@Popexssj at "guitar center" or "musicians friend" you could get an acoustic or electric for under a hundred... *NEW* (not the most fancy but still)

E-bay can be cool for stuff, but it's better to be able to pick up stuff and try it out and get a feel if you like it if you can. Do you have a pon shop or flea market in your area? I got a nice marshal practice amp for $20 at a pon shop plus I could test it there. If your comfortable with craigslist you might find someone in your area too

[nymetsrock]

your single coils sound really harsh

[Popexssj]

dude i want to play guitar and i found this one on ebay, should i but it? i didnt play guitar before and i dont have much money

[MrKrownRoyale]

cool

[mrbrownstone242]

I just got a set of these and they are really neat. I have them in a es 335 and yea they are twangy twangy. I am used to JB and jazz pickups so it is a little getting used to and man do they have bass response ! yes sir. excellent separation on notes they stick out more you can identify them they do not get lost. Really different and very nice sounding.

Hard to get these to overdrive. I figured I would try them on a 6505 dirty and they still ring thru cleanish with a little paf mixed in